Ten Petals
by PinkGray
Summary: ItaSaku. Non-Massacre AU. Anthology, 10 parts. 04. One by one, Itachi would peel away the layers that separated them.
1. crossing bridges

**Title: **act i; crossing bridges  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 638  
><strong>Prompts:<strong> 01. twilight & 229. no man is an island & food: o9. apples

**Summary:** It's a small decision in the grand scheme of things, but in this moment, the world pivots at the implications, that fine line between them blurring forevermore.

_with a special theme of _snowdrops.

* * *

><p>It can hardly even be called a mutual acquaintance. In a relationship that encompasses less than friendship and little more than acknowledgement, in a stage of in-betweens and hesitations, sometimes, no name can suffice. They are simply <em>there<em>, products of their own manipulation.

She is merely a reminder of listless, but never failed missions, sweet, but bitter exchanges, and charming, but disengaged relationships. She is the reminder of all these, because in his mind, there is nothing else. Pink, in all its vibrancy, belongs only to those environments in his mind, as he has never known them anywhere else. Everything has a place, physically and poetically, that must be obeyed at all times – it is simply the natural order of things, and Itachi knows nothing less than perfection.

It is of course against all the beliefs he has ever held, to allow himself any slight derailments that might entail his visiting the charmed and charming woman without occasion or a mission. She is a vision of his work life, a comrade, a subordinate, and more often than not, a saviour. She is the attachment of his brother and his loudmouth – she is _their_ friend, family. In her place with them, she is the loved one, a beloved object of affection to be protected, admired and cared for.

He feels the taboo echoing loudly even as he reaches for the doorknob, cold and abandoned. The door swings open without much protest, save for the soft creaking that all doors in the aging Konoha General Hospital offer. To his imminent relief, the only presence already in the spacey room is hers, silent and unmoving on the unwelcoming bed. It takes him a moment longer to absorb the sight before him – the glass panes lining the walls filter through the last remnants of orange, bathing the slumbering woman in its warmth. He had always believed, long before any other thoughts and actions had been forcibly fed to him, that the dance between the dying embers of the setting sun and the impending twilight was the most beautiful – here, in this room, he could do naught but ratify.

Tentative steps fill his subconscious as he glides, silent into the room. The overflowing bedside table comes into view a second later, and it is irritation, and surprise at the former that fills him at the sight. Fresh red carnations overflow from the glittering vase, and though he is no Yamanaka, the universal message coins through clear enough.

At a later day, when asked, Itachi had claimed ignorance.

But in this moment, call it possession or insanity, the red, flashing with insuppressibly dominant anger incline his lithe fingers to grab hold of the beautiful petals, crushing them into the flames of a silent katon. As quickly as his fingers had destroyed, the red is replaced with a carnal opposition, and snowdrops shine in its place. The satisfaction, uncharacteristic and contenting lasts only as long as it takes for him to notice the half-bitten apple sitting delicately on the opposite bedside table.

He freezes precariously, the implications ringing clearly in his mind. _Someone else is here_. For the crucial seconds following this revelation, he is thankful for the lithe body that his heritage has gifted him as he slips through the windows. As his shadows disappear, out of sight, Itachi thinks he hears the soft footfalls of her other visitor, followed by wistful sigh of a dejected man. While Itachi has never been a man of vivid imagination, it is nothing short of that as his mind is flooded with the silhouette of _whoever,_ offering simple caresses to the comatose girl. Unbeknownst to him, the slightest of scowls fights its way across his face.

For the remainder of the week, Itachi does not smile.

* * *

><p>snowdrops - <em>consolation or hope<em>  
>red carnation - <em>"my heart aches for you"  deep passion , love_

* * *

><p>tbc<p> 


	2. complexities within simplicities

**Title: **act ii; complexities within simplicities  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 1300  
><strong>Prompts:<strong> 021. underneath & 392. beautiful disaster & food: o2. ice-cream

**Summary**: He's always been taught to look beneath the underneath - but with her, it seems like the layers will never fully peel away.

_with a special theme of red daisies_.

* * *

><p>"Will you take me to Honoka-san's ice-cream shop?"<p>

Itachi looks up in surprise, whether at the content of her speech, or simply at hearing her voice, he doesn't know. When his charcoal orbs focus on her forlorn form, sitting delicately across the kitchen table, another shockwave throws itself through his system. Even as she repeats her uncharacteristic question, she is not looking at him – instead, her usually vivacious emeralds are trained on a distant something away from him, outside the window, a vacant, almost sorry glint within them.

He arches an eyebrow, but obliges with an answer nonetheless. "The snowstorm of the century is wrecking havoc outside. I doubt Honoha-san's store will be open."

"Is that so?" she replies in the same absentminded tone. She blinks, and seems to see the truth behind his words for the first time, despite having been staring out the kitchen's large, ornate windows for the past ten minutes. A wistful sigh escapes her parted lips at the realization and with the action, she moves to tuck a wayward cerise strand back behind her ear, but says nothing more.

Itachi wonders briefly where her teammates are – they are notorious within Konoha for sheltering their female companion with the care and dedication required of a porcelain doll. But she is alone, sitting in the Uchiha's vast kitchen, staring blankly ahead as well as any depressed person. The most microscopic of frowns fights its way onto Itachi's face – Haruno Sakura is more or less known as the Sweetheart, Konoha's happy, cheerful Sweetheart. He realizes with annoyance that it unsettles him, for a constant in his world to become a variable.

Sakura seems to have surrendered to the fruitlessness of her desire with his reply and Itachi, unsettled further by her atypical submission, sweeps up in one smooth motion. She doesn't seem to notice his movement until he his half-way across the room, and his voice once again penetrates her reverie.

"...My mother has made ice-cream. You are welcome to have some, if it's an adequate substitute."

She seems surprised at his offer, and it takes another moment for the perplexed look to vanish from her face, but when it does, the glowing smile she is so famous for is back, a beacon on her face. "Of course, Itachi-san. Thank you."

Itachi nods almost absentmindedly as he retrieves said object from the fridge. The entire sequence of actions is completed with such silence that she nearly reels back with shock when he materializes before her, a glass bowl of vanilla ice cream in hand. A soft smile, duller than before but with the same sort of sad radiance lights her face as she thanks him. As an afterthought, she realizes the extent of his abilities knows nearly no bounds – she barely noticed his motions, stealthy as they were.

It is not important though, she decides in that moment, how good of a shinobi he is. The decency of his person, the vision wrapped beneath the layers of trained Uchiha hardship, the very inner-light she had always pegged to be just as cold as his piercing glare, is the only thing that truly matters. She has no clue what she had been looking for with that ill-placed question. But whatever it had been, she had found it. Uchiha Itachi was a decent, almost caring human being after all. And perhaps it was this epiphany that prompted her to say what she said next, but again, at a later day when she had the time to rethink her actions, she could think of no plausible reason for her to do anything so entirely bizarre.

"My parents are dead," she says, almost nonchalantly. Here, she pauses for a moment, and a spoonful of vanilla sails into her mouth. After she swallows the delightful gulp, she continues in the same nonchalant tone. "I killed them."

Itachi, upon hearing her bizarre combination of words, freezes so completely a shudder wracks his usually composed body. _What the hell? _To Sakura untrained eye though, there is no change in his countenance, and the only indication is the sudden thickness of the air that wraps around them. She plays with her ice-cream with a sort of deliberateness that he cannot describe. When she looks up again, he is nearly stupefied at the turbulence of emotions in her emeralds.

And then she laughs, a hollow, surprising jingle. "My mother died of some complications when she was pregnant with me. When it came down to it, it was either giving birth to me or dying," here, she pauses again to feed herself. Itachi feels a frown forming on his face at the goosebumps on her arm. When she continues, her voice is dry, void of any humour. "Guess what she chose?"

He doesn't answer. He doesn't know _what_ to answer, even if he wanted to. "My father hated me for it. He loved her a lot, you know? Hated me until the day he died," she finishes, bitterness now replacing her dry humour, almost sarcastic. "He committed suicide."

Itachi can do no more than stare at her in complete surprise. This is _not_ Haruno Sakura – cheery, loved, sometimes ill-tempered sweetheart. _This_ is someone who has been shattered repeatedly, someone who has never been given a break, never been given the chance to heal. This is a broken girl, _not_-

The thought dies in his mind as a sudden bright, cheery smile spreads across her face. In that moment, all traces of her sorrow and remorse seem to dissipate into nothing, as she beams at him. "Oh, what am I saying? I've gone all morbid on you. I'm so sorry, Itachi-san!" she offers a little laugh here, nothing like the hollow croak of before. This time, it chimes and sings, a thousand melodies on its own. "Mikoto-san's ice-cream was delicious! I wish had this sort of talent!"

Sakura offers him no chance to reply as she jumps up, trekking silently towards the sink. The soft melody she hums is another surprise to him – it is a lullaby he heard many a night as a child and against his will, he relaxes in her presence. His mind is working overdrive to digest what has just occurred, but he realizes as he watches her, that some things are not so easily explained. People are complicated, his father once said to him as a child. Perhaps she is the very definition of this adage – he doesn't know, but there is time in the future to ponder that. For now, he enjoys simply watching her wash the dishes in contentment, her earlier distress seemingly forgotten.

"Oh!" she gasps suddenly. Her fingers, still bubbling from the dish soap, reach out towards the little vase sitting on the sill. "These are absolutely beautiful!" she coos, gesturing towards the dainty read daisies sitting in their place.

"You are welcome to have them," Itachi replies quietly.

Another smile, genuine this time he thinks, lights up her face. "Really? Thanks. You've been so generous with me."

He nods a little at this. "It is nothing. Our flowers are replaced daily."

Sakura is positively beaming as she rinses her hands and reaches to grab the bunch. She gasps again then, a different sort of inhale – surprise coats this one as she swivels around, nearly losing her balance in the midst. "Shit. I'm late," she curses under her breath. "Sorry, Itachi-san! I have to go. Ino-pig will murder me if I'm late again."

In her rush, she leaves him no room to reply. With another hurried thanks and wave of goodbye, she is gone, flowers grasped loosely in her grip. As she hurries away, Itachi wonders transiently if she realizes how well the flower suits her – or even more appropriate, as he remembers its significance, how well _she_ suits it.

* * *

><p>red daisy - <em>beauty unknown to possessor<em>

* * *

><p>tbc<p> 


	3. how a relationship develops

**Title: **act iii; how a relationship develops**  
><strong>**Word Count:** 2237**  
>Prompts:<strong> 26. adoration & 385. laughing at the moon & food: o1. stew

**Summary:** In spite of her efforts at avoiding the elder Uchiha, Sakura learns that fate isn't something to be trifled with quite that easily.

_with a special theme of rosemary_.

* * *

><p>"The fountain of my love will never run dry! From the very first moment I saw you, you captured my heart and have kept it locked away under chains!" here, he thrusts a haphazardly wrapped bundle of green shenanigans towards the slightly traumatized woman. "For you!"<p>

Itachi freezes mid-step, twenty feet away. _What the-?_

A little ways away from him, further down the street is the infamously optimistic Rock Lee and a rather shell shocked looking girl. Or rather, a somewhat bemused, somewhat annoyed Haruno Sakura, the very same girl that had been conspicuously absent from his life for the past three weeks. Her absence is conspicuous because neither she nor Naruto are ever absent from the Uchiha Compound for more than a few days, and definitely not because she has been acutely plaguing his mind since their last encounter, which, coincidentally, was three weeks ago.

Itachi contemplates continuing down this path or choosing a different one towards his destination. Why this thought of aversion even exists, he refuses to acknowledge. He ignores the truth that he is Uchiha Itachi and Uchihas do _not_ avoid awkward confrontations – but this is different, is it not?

As he debates this, Sakura stretches out a reluctant hand towards the bundle. From his position, he thinks he sees her bright emeralds narrow in confusion. Unconsciously, Itachi inches closer to the scene so that he might hear some of the exchange.

Sakura seems to consider something for a moment, before saying hesitantly, "Is this _rosemary_?"

The green beast offers her his brightest smile. "Of course it is, Sakura-san! It symbolizes all the good memories we have together! And will also be very useful to you in the kitchen!"

Sakura nearly topples over with disbelief. "Lee, we don't have any memories together."

Lee has the galls to look aghast. "But Sakura-san! We have hundreds, neigh, thousands of lovely memories together! There's the first time we met, the second time we met, the first time you said hello to me, the first time-"

Sakura stops any other firsts he might have considered precious by swooping down to place a kiss on Lee's cheek. Predictably, Lee stops chattering and freezes, having been caught completely unaware. Using the slight window of opportunity she has created, Sakura zips down the street, disappearing in a flurry of petals and dust.

Itachi, too, finds himself rooted to his spot, bemused and altogether intrigued by the enigma that is Haruno Sakura.

* * *

><p>Itachi is not one to eavesdrop, so it is altogether unintentional when he overhears Sasuke inform their mother that Sakura is coming over to cook dinner. It is also not on purpose when he overhears his mother squeal like a teenager, while exclaiming that Sakura-chan's stew is absolutely amazing. The duo enter the room in another moment, and Mikoto wastes no time in informing Itachi that Sakura will be their chef for the evening. Itachi nods to his mother's next question, and answers that he will be home for dinner tonight.<p>

Mentally, he makes a note to cancel dinner plans with his teammates.

Three hours pass by quickly, and it is not long before the familiar voices of Sakura and Naruto waft through the window. As usual, they are arguing over some asinine detail – with Sakura winning the argument, of course.

"Hello!" Sakura calls out as they enter the house, and into the kitchen. The smile she wears is rather radiant, though it dies completely when she sees Itachi sitting casually at the dinner table. "Oh," she breathes. "Itachi-san! I didn't expect to see you. Genma told me you guys had a team dinner."

Itachi feigns indifference towards the curious glances his brother and mother shoot him. "It was rescheduled."

"Right," she blinks, and seems to forget herself for a moment. But she recovers soon enough and she turns away from Itachi, towards Sasuke and Mikoto. "Naruto's got the ingredients over there," she says sweetly.

As if on cue, Naruto walks up with three bags of groceries stuffed to the rim. Turning to Sasuke, he mumbles, "Next time, _you're _going shopping with her."

Sasuke makes a face to say _as if_, but dares not voice the thought out loud in Sakura's presence. Thankfully for both men, she misses the exchange, deep in conversation with Mikoto. Itachi watches all this, their weird dynamic, and wonders why he even bothers to try. It's not in his place, or his character; what the hell is he doing here? Simultaneously, she happens to tilt her head his way, and her bright emeralds, heightened with the colour of mirth catch his eyes for a moment.

It's a look he cannot describe, and is lost with another blink – but it's the look of Sakura, of the Sakura that he never knew existed.

"Sasuke-kun," she calls out sweetly. "Come help me cook?"

Itachi thinks he hears a light snicker from his mother as Sasuke grudgingly agrees, and trudges over to the stove. The two women exchange another quick word before Sakura trots off after Sasuke, a light laugh escaping when he turns his pouty Uchiha face to her. But there is no other complaint from the younger Uchiha as they work in unison to make her apparently famous stew. Itachi studies this relationship, of how they work effortlessly together. It also occurs to him how good they look together, with her colours of spring and his dark shades. They're perfect compliments, and unconsciously, he narrows his eyes.

Twenty minutes later Sasuke is leaving the kitchen area, to join Mikoto and Naruto in conversation. Sakura hardly notices, engrossed as she is with her cooking. If she had noticed, she probably would have simply rolled her eyes at his swift exit.

With Naruto, Mikoto and Sasuke busy with their conversation, no one even notices when Itachi gets up from his spot and makes his way into the kitchen area. Even Sakura has a delayed reaction to his presence, and when she finally does see him, she is so surprised she nearly drops her ladle. "Itachi-san!" she gasps.

"May I be of assistance?"

She stares at him sceptically for a moment, before giving him a hesitant nod. When Itachi slips in beside her to chop the green unions, it is the understatement of the millennia to say she is uncomfortable. If she has learned anything from her years of friendship with Sasuke, it is that Uchiha never offer to do anything for you for free. Sasuke is no exception, and she is willing to bet buckets that Itachi is definitely no exception. She has her guesses as to why he's here, and it doesn't ease her tension one bit.

Why, oh _why_ did she have to open her mouth that day? It is not even as if she's _close_ to the older Uchiha. They barely know each other – it had taken her years of trust and bond building to finally tell Naruto and Sasuke, so she is beyond herself as to why she would tell Itachi, of all people.

"The rosemary is quite fresh," he comments all of a sudden, forcing her out of her quiet mortification. "Is it home grown?"

Sakura is so distracted that she replies without thinking, "Not sure. They're from Lee."

Her first instinct is to slap her hand across her mouth. A gift from Rock Lee? She nearly groans with the increased mortification. The last thing she needs is more misunderstandings to form with the elder Uchiha, and she would be especially damned if any misunderstandings pile her together with Lee. Not that she has anything against the enthusiastic man, really. Sakura just has hopes of finding a nice, normal man to marry one day. Being known as Lee's girlfriend would undoubtedly dash all those hopes out the window.

The slight air of amusement surrounding Itachi does nothing to ease her tension. She tries to fix the situation in the best way she knows how, by talking. And talking. "He's so friendly, you know? He just loves to be of assistance to everything. No wonder he's Konoha's Green Beast, eh?"

"Indeed," Itachi replies, still visibly amused.

"Right, it's-" she cuts herself off with a gasp. "Oh no – it's boiling over!"

Thankfully she is not the useless type, so as she proclaims the obvious, she is also diving to save their dinner and possibly the kitchen, too, from likely disaster. In a second she has calmed down the whizzing pot, and is holding the lid with her left hand and gentling blowing on the stew.

"It'll be ready in a moment, Itachi-san, so you can go join the others," she says, trying to dismiss him as inconspicuously as possible. "I'll be fine!"

He's tempted to deny her offer simply to see her reaction, but decides against it. There will be more opportunities, after all.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for the wonderful dinner, Sakura-chan!" Mikoto says, positively beaming. Sakura brushes away the comment with a slight blush, but the Uchiha matriarch will have none of it. "Your future husband is one lucky man!"<p>

As she says this, she throws a suggestive look towards her younger son, a gesture that is completely wasted. At the opposite end of the table, Sasuke and Naruto have pretty much collapsed onto one another, a product of the impromptu drinking competition they decided on halfway through the meal. As usual, as a result of some asinine argument, the two bright men came to the only plausible conclusion in their stupor, and that was to settle the matter in a very manly way. To see who could hold their liquor better, of course. But such a conclusion had been reached so many times before that the alcohol tolerance of both men had been increased to ridiculous levels, so that when the time came that they actually _felt_ the alcohol, they had already had five too many shots.

Sakura sighs as she takes in their image. "What am I going to do with those two?" It's quite rhetorical, as she already knows perfectly well what to do with her two idiotic brothers. "Hold up with the dishes, Mikoto-san. I'll help you with them as soon as I drag these two to Sasuke's room."

Mikoto lets out a laugh and nods. "Don't worry about the dishes, dear. Itachi and I will take care of it."

Channelling some chakra into her arms, Sakura hauls one man onto each shoulder, and smirks a little in satisfaction when Sasuke emits a slight groan of pain. Hopefully, she thinks, he'll have a nice, dark bruise there tomorrow. If her treatment of them is rough on the journey to Sasuke's room, it is in all probability much better than how she tucks them into bed for a nice night's sleep. Without much effort, she dumps Naruto first on Sasuke's bed, followed by the other. Thankfully for the men it is a queen sized bed, for they are not too tangled after her rather rough placement.

_It should be interesting in the morning,_ she snickers to herself.

When she arrives back in the kitchen, Mikoto is wiping clean the last of the dishes, and the elder brother is nowhere to be seen. Sakura hovers around the table, not quite sure what to do, but Mikoto sees her first. "Those two can be so immature sometimes, ne?"

Sakura laughs in agreement.

"Itachi went out to the courtyard," Mikoto continues. "Why don't you go join him?"

It's the tone that the older woman uses, or perhaps it's the slight gleam in her sharp eyes, but refusal doesn't once cross Sakura's mind. Although she is hesitant, she nods and makes her way out to the courtyard, where, sure enough, Itachi is seated on one of the benches. _Cornered with him again,_ she sighs to herself as she drops down next to him as quietly as possible.

"Mother seems intent on securing you as a daughter-in-law."

The statement is so random that Sakura turns to him, bemusement in her eyes. "Mikoto-san is lovely. If Sasuke wasn't like a brother to me, it would've been nice."

"Her heart just might break to hear you call Sasuke your brother," Itachi says with a wry smile of sorts.

Sakura reciprocates his smile, adding in a chuckle of her own. A comfortable silence falls over them then, and she is almost content enough to leave it so. But her idiocy comes over her mind again, and she begins formulating possible ways to tackle the elephant hovering in the air between them.

Sakura hesitates, not knowing exactly how to approach the subject, wavering even on the decision to approach it at all. Then, she steels her resolve, knowing that it's now or never. "About last time…" she starts. "Please don't misun-"

"I understand," he interrupts quietly. His voice is so low that Sakura even finishes her word, though the last two syllables come out as a staggered whisper. She blinks up at him, not knowing how to respond; but he is not looking her way. He is studying something very far off in the distance, perhaps something deeply imbued within his mind only. After a moment she follows his lead as well, resuming her earlier task of examining the luminescent moon.

A warm feeling settles over her, not quite happiness, and not quite excitement. It is simply just _there_, warm, inside her, as she allows herself a small smile. _He understands_. For some reason unknown to her, she believes him.

* * *

><p>rosemary - <em>remembrance<em>

* * *

><p>tbc<p> 


	4. multidimensional

**Title:** act iv; multidimensional  
><strong>Word Count: <strong>1950  
><strong>Prompts:<strong> 26. immortal laughter & 43. gentle & food: 06. strawberries

**Summary: **One by one, Itachi would peel away at the layers that separated them.

with a special theme of _baby's breath_.

* * *

><p>There was but one person he'd encountered in this lifetime that had managed to baffle him. What baffled him more was that intrinsically, she wasn't an enigma. No, she wasn't mysterious in the way he, or his family made a habit of being by preferring solitude and silence. And she also wasn't mysterious in the way that some women were, always withholding a part of themselves to fortify that image of intrigue. Quite contrarily, Haruno Sakura was as open and sociable as any person ought to be, maybe even more so.<p>

But, for the life of him, Itachi couldn't figure her out. Every time he thought he had her pegged, she surprised him again.

Itachi had been running an errand for his mother and on account of the beautiful weather outside, had decided to take a slight scenic detour on his way home. There was nothing expressly remarkable about the forest trail that eventually looped back to the Uchiha Compound, but there was a certain serenity to it that Itachi appreciated greatly. The path was also usually deserted, as it led to nowhere important and was remarkably inefficient as a means to get somewhere, which only made him appreciate it all the more. Just as he thought today would be no different than any other, he heard a distinct laugh ringing through the forestry, chiming with the wind and oddly soothing.

Normally, Itachi would pay no heed to something like this, but he recognized this particular laugh. And though he had never been the one to cause such a sound of mirth and pure, candid joy to fall from her lips, he had come to recognize the laugh. Her teammates often made her laugh as such, many times in his presence as well. _Sakura_, he thought.

The decision to move towards her wasn't made consciously. Itachi seemed to just gravitate towards the origin of the laugh. It wasn't that he was interested in her or anything she did…it was just as he'd surmised earlier – she was a mystery to him. Uchiha Itachi left no mysteries unsolved.

By the time he'd reached the border of the clearing she occupied, he could clearly see the reason for her radiative happiness. Surrounding the pink-haired kunoichi was a hoard of children, all in a similarly joyous state. There were three of them; two boys and one girl, roughly seven or eight years old. The girl was braiding something in her hands with a look of utmost concentration while Sakura entertaining the boys with a jutsu of some sort that seemed to involve strawberries. Itachi was sure Sakura had noticed his presence long ago, but he was taken enough by the scene to wait patiently until she addressed him.

He didn't have to wait long. As soon as she finished the jutsu at hand, she turned her head towards him, a bright smile radiating from her face. "Itachi-san! Hello! What brings you out here?" Without giving him a chance to reply, she beckoned towards him. "Come join us!"

He did as he was bid, well aware of the three pairs of eyes watching him carefully. As he reached them, he noted that the children weren't so much wary of his presence as they were curious.

"My loves, this is Uchiha Itachi."

The children were silent for a moment. The girl was the first to make a move, tentatively at first. She stuck out a chubby hand towards the ANBU Captain, a shy smile on her face. "Hello, Uchiha-san! My name is Hanazawa Rika."

Itachi took her small hands in his own. "Hello, Rika-chan."

This seemed to break the dam as the two boys surged forward to join their friend. "Hello Mister Uchiha! Say, you look a lot like the Sasuke-san!"

The other boy chimed in as well. "Dai, you don't know anything! Uchiha all look very similar. It's a clan thing. _You_ wouldn't know anything about that."

The boy named Dai scoffed. "As if you know anything! It's not like you're from some big clan either!"

"Yeah, well at least-"

Sakura chose this moment to step in-between the two boys who were inching closer to a fight. "Loves, is this how we behave?"

Immediately, the two kids were overcame with abashed expressions. "Noo," the boys murmured in unison. "Sorry Sakura-chan! We didn't mean to be rude."

Itachi was slightly surprised at how much respect and love these three children had for Sakura. It was evident in the way they seemed careful not to do anything that disappointed her. They had nothing to worry about, though, it seemed, for Sakura just smiled and ruffled their hair.

"Why don't you three go play for a moment while I talk to Itachi-san?"

Three heads bobbed in unison, and the kids wasted no time in complying. Their distress from moments earlier seemed to be completely forgotten as the two boys resumed their friendly rivalry over something or another, and the girl resumed her braiding.

Once the kids were somewhat out of earshot, Itachi asked the question burning through the air between them. "They are?"

"Orphans. I take some time out whenever I can to spend time at the orphanage – over the years I've gotten particularly close to these three."

Itachi suddenly remembered her telling him that she, too, was an orphan, but decided not to comment on the connection. "That is very kind of you," he said instead.

Sakura shook her head. "It's not about kindness. I really do love these kids. Since they've started at the Academy I've barely had any time to see them, what with their schedule and my workload."

"They are all at the Academy?"

"Yup! Rika always says that I'm the one that inspired them to go down that path, which makes me happy, since I can't do much else for them," her expression softened then. "It eases my heart knowing that they'll be able to protect themselves as well as have a means of living in the future."

Before Itachi could reply, Rika bounded back towards them. She held her arms behind her back, and only when she was standing right before them did she reveal what was in her hands. It was the flower headband she'd been braiding, only now it was complete. The tiny white petals looked like fragile flakes of snow, wound gingerly around each other. Itachi noticed that the flower was different than the ones Sakura wore in her hair, but the weaving pattern was the same.

"Here, Uchiha-san. You can have it!"

With surprising agility she shoved the bundle towards him. It must have been her innocent smile, because Itachi was powerless to say no. He accepted the flowers graciously, but could only hold them awkwardly in his grip, because what else was he supposed to do with it?'

A badly stifled snicker from Sakura articulated what _she_ thought he should do with it. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she chimed in. "Aren't you going to put it on, Itachi-san? Rika-chan put a lot of effort into that."

The round doe-eyes of said child blinking up at him all but screamed her wish for him to wear it. With a sigh, Itachi complied. This was so out of character for him that it even gave him a moment's pause, but he continued with the action he'd set out to do. After he donned the flowers, he tried his best to ignore the absurdity of the situation.

Rika smiled prettily. "It looks very good on you, Itachi-san!"

Sakura laughed out loud this time as she bent down to be eye level with the little girl. "Thank you, Rika-chan! I'm sure Itachi-san loves the gift."

"Yes. Thank you," Itachi replied awkwardly.

"Those are my favourite flowers! They're called Baby's Breath. Pretty, right?"

"Indeed."

"Sometimes Ino-chan teaches me about the different meanings that flowers have," Rika blubbered on excitedly. Then, she frowned. "But I can't remember what Baby's Breath means. I'm sure it's something awesome though! Since it's my favourite." Rika flashed him another toothy smile.

Sakura smiled fondly at the little girl, but the smile faded as she realized the time. "Rika-chan, go get the boys? We should get going, it's getting late."

"Aw, already, Sakura-chan? But Itachi-san just got here…"

"Next time, okay, sweetie?"

The sweet little girl hung her head, but nodded anyways and proceeded with her given task. Itachi, watching the genuine unhappiness marring Sakura's features as she watched the girl head over to the other side, noted with surprise a slight feeling of gloom blooming within his own chest. No one apart from his family had ever elicited such a level of personal empathy from him before. Not that he was an unfeeling person, but his training had forced his mind to rationalize away any extraneous feelings of empathy that might hinder his performance. Itachi decided something then and there, something that would drastically change the course of his life.

Haruno Sakura was a mystery that was his, and his alone, to solve.

* * *

><p>Sakura waved goodbye to the three kids now safely within the walls of the orphanage. They waved back enthusiastically, but their misery at being separated from the pink haired woman was impossible to miss. With a sigh, Sakura forced herself to turn away and begin the trek down the road. Itachi watched with great interest, carefully noting the interaction. Sakura's empathy and capacity for love was so contradictory to her prowess as a kunoichi, yet it fit her. She was a walking oxymoron, and Itachi found the mystery to be absolutely irresistible.<p>

As they headed down the road together, Itachi handed her the small braid of flowers that he'd since taken off his head. Sakura nodded her thanks as she took the delicate petals into her hands. She smiled wistfully as she fingered the small braid of white flowers. "I was going to mention it earlier, but these flowers actually mean innocence and purity. So fitting for Rika, yet…" Sakura looked away, towards the sunset. "It breaks my heart. I love the innocence that still surrounds them, the bliss of being ignorant of all the evil in this world. As much as I'm glad for their shinobi training, it's heartbreaking to think that their innocence will become a casualty of their eventual power."

"That is life, Sakura."

"I know, which is why I also feel kind of silly. It's inevitable, happens to all of us. But seeing their purity, I can't help but want to preserve it for those that still have it. It's too late our lot but there's still hope for them."

"That is our duty. To protect and nurture the next generation, the very lifeblood without which this village, our home, would be nothing." Itachi said this very solemnly. "Everything we do…all that we train for, fight for, spy for…Is it not to one day create a world where our young do not have to do this?"

If Sakura was surprised by the trace amount of quiet determination she heard in his voice, she didn't show it. Instead she bobbed her agreement. "Yes, Itachi-san. Everything we work hard for…We're fighting for a peaceful world. A world where Rika and all those like her can grow up loved and without the influence of violence.

"It is a noble goal to work towards, one that I think most think about at times." He paused for a moment, and added firmly, "Itachi. It is not necessary to be so formal, Sakura."

This time Sakura did show her surprise at his words. But after a second's shock, she smiled up gently at him. "Yes, I think you're right, Itachi. Formality is overrated, anyways."

And just like that, a layer of the wall that stood between them fell away.

* * *

><p>tbc<p> 


End file.
